Method and system for fairly charging talk time of video call that introduces new person

ABSTRACT

A computer-implemented billing method including displaying, on a video call screen, video data related to a counterpart terminal with which a video call is connected, recognizing reaction information input from the counterpart terminal based on the video data related to the counterpart terminal displayed on the video call screen, and generating billing data related to the recognized reaction information of the counterpart terminal based on a billing policy may be provided.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This U.S. non-provisional application claims the benefit of priorityunder 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2019-0135193,filed Oct. 29, 2019, the entire contents of which are incorporatedherein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

One or more example embodiments relate to technology for charging basedon a duration of time (e.g., actual talk time) of a video call.

Related Art

With the developments in communication technology, a video call serviceis provided to large electronic devices, such as a television, as wellas portable communication devices, such as a mobile phone. In responseto a call attempt for a video call from a calling terminal, a callattempt message is transmitted to an exchanger through a base stationand/or a base station controller and the exchanger acquires routinginformation to a receiving terminal through a home location register andestablishes a session with the receiving terminal through areceiving-side exchanger. Through this process, a user of the callingterminal and a user of the receiving terminal may have a video callwhile viewing each other's faces by transmitting and receiving audio andvideo.

An increasing number of users could meet a new person through anapplication that provides a meeting online. In the case of having avideo call to meet a new person online, a user is generally chargedbased on a duration of time of a call. However, although there is noresponse from a counterpart user during a video call, the same billingpolicy, that is, charging based on a duration of time of a call mayapply. Therefore, users to be charged may perceive unfair.

SUMMARY

Some example embodiments provide methods and/or systems that may performfair billing based on a duration of time of a video call that introducesa new person.

Some example embodiments provide methods and/or systems that may suspendgeneration of billing data based on reaction information of acounterpart terminal recognized during a video call.

According to an aspect of at least one example embodiment, acomputer-implemented billing method may include displaying, on a videocall screen, video data related to a counterpart terminal with which avideo call is connected, recognizing reaction information input from thecounterpart terminal based on the video data related to the counterpartterminal displayed on the video call screen, and generating billing datarelated to the recognized reaction information of the counterpartterminal based on a billing policy.

The generating the billing data may include setting the billing policyfor assigning the billing data based on the reaction information of thecounterpart terminal.

The generating the billing data may include suspending generation of thebilling data that is assigned based on the set billing policy, inresponse to absence of the reaction information input from thecounterpart terminal or in response to the reaction information beingrecognized for less than a duration of time.

The generating the billing data may include counting a duration of timeduring which the reaction information of the counterpart terminal isrecognized and generating or suspending generation of the billing datarelated to the counted duration of time based on the set billing policy.

The recognizing may include determining whether the reaction informationof the counterpart terminal is recognized based on at least one offacial information of a counterpart user, voice data of the counterpartuser, and text data of the counterpart user recognized from the videodata related to the counterpart terminal displayed on the video callscreen.

The recognizing may include performing a voice recognition for the voicedata of the counterpart user in response to a facial recognition beingabsent in the facial information of the counterpart user during a firstduration of time, performing a text input recognition for the text dataof the counterpart user in response to the voice recognition beingabsent in the voice data of the counterpart user during a secondduration of time, and determining that the reaction information of thecounterpart terminal is absent in response to the text input recognitionbeing absent in the text data of the counterpart user during a thirdduration of time.

The recognizing may include determining that reaction information to thefacial information of the counterpart user is recognized based on ratioinformation of area information that includes components constitutingthe facial information of the counterpart user.

The recognizing may include identifying the voice data of thecounterpart user from voice data occurring during the video call andrecognizing that reaction information to the voice data of thecounterpart user is input based on results of the identifying.

The recognizing may include displaying a user interface of inputting amessage on the video call screen and recognizing that the text data ofthe counterpart user is input based on the message input through theuser interface.

The generating of the billing data may include determining that thereaction information of the counterpart terminal is not recognized andsuspending generation of the billing data, in response to reactioninformation of a user of a terminal displayed on the video call screenbeing recognized and the reaction information of the counterpartterminal displayed on the video call screen being not recognized.

The displaying may include displaying, on the video call screen, thevideo data related to the counterpart terminal with which the video callis connected during a desired duration of time, in response to aconnection of the video call with the counterpart terminal beingretrieved in response to a request for connecting the video call.

The displaying may include controlling a duration of time of the videocall with the counterpart terminal using an item during the video callin response to verifying a counterpart user of the counterpart terminalconnected through the video call.

The generating may include counting an actual talk time during which thevideo call with the counterpart terminal is connected based on resultinformation, which has been acquired by performing a recognition ofreaction information of the counterpart terminal during an additionaltime of the video call set by using an item on the video call screen.

The displaying may include operating a video call mode in response to aconnection of the video call with the counterpart terminal anddisplaying the video data related to the counterpart terminal on thevideo call screen based on the video call mode.

The generating may include terminating the video call screen in responseto the video call mode that operates in response to a connection of thevideo call with the counterpart terminal is switched to a voice mode andsuspending generation of the billing data based on time informationabout a time at which the video call mode is switched to the voice mode.

According to an aspect of at least one example embodiment, there isprovided a non-transitory computer-readable record medium storinginstructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor toperform the billing method.

According to an aspect of at least one example embodiment, acomputer-implemented billing system may include a memory configured tostore computer-readable instructions and one or more processorsconfigured to execute the computer-readable instructions such that theone or more processors are configured to display, on a video callscreen, video data related to a counterpart terminal with which a videocall is connected, recognize reaction information input from thecounterpart terminal based on the video data related to the counterpartterminal displayed on the video call screen, and generate billing datarelated to the recognized reaction information of the counterpartterminal based on a billing policy.

The one or more processors may be further configured to set the billingpolicy for assigning the billing data based on the reaction informationof the counterpart terminal, and suspend generation of the billing datathat is assigned based on the billing policy in response to absence ofthe reaction information input from the counterpart terminal or inresponse to the reaction information being recognized for less than apreset duration of time.

The one or more processors may be further configured to determinewhether the reaction information of the counterpart terminal isrecognized based on at least one of facial information of a counterpartuser, voice data of the counterpart user, and text data of thecounterpart user recognized from the video data related to thecounterpart terminal displayed on the video call screen.

The one or more processors may be further configured to control aduration of time of the video call with the counterpart terminal usingan item during the video call in response to verifying a counterpartuser of the counterpart terminal connected through the video call, andcount an actual talk time during which the video call with thecounterpart terminal is connected based on result information, which hasbeen acquired by performing a recognition of reaction information of thecounterpart terminal during an additional time of the video call set byusing the item on the video call screen.

According to some example embodiments, it is possible to perform fairbilling based on a duration of time during which a video callsubstantially or actually occurs by recognizing reaction information ofa counterpart terminal based on video data related to the counterpartterminal that is displayed on a video call screen.

According to some example embodiments, it is possible to enhance a usersatisfaction by generating or suspending generation of billing data inresponse to recognition or non-recognition of reaction information of acounterpart terminal with a video call is connected.

Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the descriptionprovided herein. The description and specific examples in this summaryare intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended tolimit the scope of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a network environmentaccording to at least one example embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an electronic device anda server according to at least one example embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of components includable ina processor of an electronic device according to at least one exampleembodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a billing methodperformed by an electronic device according to at least one exampleembodiment;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of having a video call between electronicdevices according to at least one example embodiment;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of using an item at an electronic deviceaccording to at least one example embodiment;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of recognizing reaction information of acounterpart terminal at an electronic device according to at least oneexample embodiment; and

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of generating billing databased on reaction information of a counterpart terminal at an electronicdevice according to at least one example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One or more example embodiments will be described in detail withreference to the accompanying drawings. Example embodiments, however,may be embodied in various different forms, and should not be construedas being limited to only the illustrated embodiments. Rather, theillustrated embodiments are provided as examples so that this disclosurewill be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concepts ofthis disclosure to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, knownprocesses, elements, and techniques, may not be described with respectto some example embodiments. Unless otherwise noted, like referencecharacters denote like elements throughout the attached drawings andwritten description, and thus descriptions will not be repeated.

As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the,” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups, thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or”includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associatedlisted products. Expressions such as “at least one of,” when preceding alist of elements, modify the entire list of elements and do not modifythe individual elements of the list. Also, the term “exemplary” isintended to refer to an example or illustration.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which example embodiments belong. Terms,such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should beinterpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning inthe context of the relevant art and/or this disclosure, and should notbe interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expresslyso defined herein.

Software may include a computer program, program code, instructions, orsome combination thereof, for independently or collectively instructingor configuring a hardware device to operate as desired. The computerprogram and/or program code may include program or computer-readableinstructions, software components, software modules, data files, datastructures, and/or the like, capable of being implemented by one or morehardware devices, such as one or more of the hardware devices mentionedabove. Examples of program code include both machine code produced by acompiler and higher level program code that is executed using aninterpreter.

A hardware device, such as a computer processing device, may run anoperating system (OS) and one or more software applications that run onthe OS. The computer processing device also may access, store,manipulate, process, and create data in response to execution of thesoftware. For simplicity, one or more example embodiments may beexemplified as one computer processing device. However, one skilled inthe art will appreciate that a hardware device may include multipleprocessing elements and multiple types of processing elements. Forexample, a hardware device may include multiple processors or aprocessor and a controller. In addition, other processing configurationsare possible, such as parallel processors.

Although described with reference to specific examples and drawings,modifications, additions and substitutions of example embodiments may bevariously made according to the description by those of ordinary skillin the art. For example, the described techniques may be performed in anorder different with that of the methods described, and/or componentssuch as the described system, architecture, devices, circuit, and thelike, may be connected or combined to be different from theabove-described methods, or results may be appropriately achieved byother components or equivalents.

Hereinafter, example embodiments will be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a network environment according to atleast one example embodiment. Referring to FIG. 1 , the networkenvironment may include a plurality of electronic devices 110, 120, 130,and 140, a plurality of servers 150 and 160, and a network 170. FIG. 1is provided as an example only. A number of electronic devices or anumber of servers is not limited thereto.

Each of the plurality of electronic devices 110, 120, 130, and 140 maybe a fixed terminal or a mobile terminal that is configured as acomputer system. For example, the plurality of electronic devices 110,120, 130, and 140 may be a smartphone, a mobile phone, a navigationdevice, a computer, a laptop computer, a digital broadcasting terminal,a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable multimedia player (PMP),a tablet PC, a game console, a wearable device, an Internet of things(IoT) device, a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR)device, and the like. For example, although FIG. 1 illustrates a shapeof a smartphone as an example of the electronic device 110, theelectronic device 110 used herein may refer to one of various types ofphysical computer systems capable of communicating with other electronicdevices 120, 130, and 140, and/or the servers 150 and 160 over thenetwork 170 in a wireless or wired communication manner.

The communication scheme is not limited and may include a near fieldwireless communication scheme between devices as well as a communicationscheme using a communication network (e.g., a mobile communicationnetwork, wired Internet, wireless Internet, a broadcasting network, asatellite network, etc.) includable in the network 170. For example, thenetwork 170 may include at least one of network topologies that includea personal area network (PAN), a local area network (LAN), a campus areanetwork (CAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network(WAN), a broadband network (BBN), and Internet. Also, the network 170may include at least one of network topologies that include a busnetwork, a star network, a ring network, a mesh network, a star-busnetwork, a tree or hierarchical network, and the like. However, they areprovided as examples only.

Each of the servers 150 and 160 may be configured as a computerapparatus or a plurality of computer apparatuses that provides aninstruction, a code, a file, content, a service, etc., throughcommunication with the plurality of electronic devices 110, 120, 130,and 140 over the network 170. For example, the server 150 may be asystem that provides a first service to the plurality of electronicdevices 110, 120, 130, and 140 connected over the network 170. Theserver 160 may be a system that provides a second service to theplurality of electronic devices 110, 120, 130, and 140 connected overthe network 170. In some example embodiments, the server 150 mayprovide, as the first service, a service (e.g., a messaging service)intended by an application through the application as a computer programinstalled and executed on the plurality of electronic devices 110, 120,130, and 140. As another example, the server 160 may provide, as thesecond service, a service that distributes a file for installing andexecuting the application to the plurality of electronic devices 110,120, 130, and 140.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an electronicdevice and a server according to at least one example embodiment.Description is made using the electronic device 110 as an example of anelectronic device and the server 150 as an example of a server withreference to FIG. 2 . Also, the other electronic devices 120, 130, and140 or the server 160 may have the same or similar configuration as thatof the electronic device 110 or the server 150.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the electronic device 110 may include a memory211, a processor 212, a communication module 213, and an input/output(I/O) interface 214, and the server 150 may include a memory 221, aprocessor 222, a communication module 223, and an I/O interface 224. Thememory 211, 221 may include a permanent mass storage device, such asrandom access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a disk drive, asolid state drive (SSD), a flash memory, etc., as a non-transitorycomputer-readable record medium. The permanent mass storage device, suchas ROM, SSD, flash memory, and disk drive, may be included in theelectronic device 110 or the server 150 as a permanent storage deviceseparate from the memory 211, 221. Also, an OS and at least one programcode, for example, a code for a browser installed and executed on theelectronic device 110 or an application installed and executed on theelectronic device 110 to provide a specific service, may be stored inthe memory 211, 221. Such software components may be loaded from anothernon-transitory computer-readable record medium separate from the memory211, 221. The other non-transitory computer-readable record medium mayinclude a non-transitory computer-readable record medium, for example, afloppy drive, a disk, a tape, a DVD/CD-ROM drive, a memory card, etc.According to other example embodiments, software components may beloaded to the memory 211, 221 through the communication module 213, 223,instead of the non-transitory computer-readable record medium. Forexample, at least one program may be loaded to the memory 211, 221 basedon a computer program (e.g., the application) installed by filesprovided over the network 170 from developers or a file distributionsystem (e.g., the server 160) that provides an installation file of theapplication.

The processor 212, 222 may be configured to process instructions of acomputer program by performing basic arithmetic operations, logicoperations, and I/O operations. The computer-readable instructions maybe provided from the memory 211, 221 or the communication module 213,223 to the processor 212, 222. For example, the processor 212, 222 maybe configured to execute received instructions in response to theprogram code stored in the storage device, such as the memory 211, 221.

The communication module 213, 223 may provide a function forcommunication between the electronic device 110 and the server 150 overthe network 170 and may provide a function for communication between theelectronic device 110 and/or the server 150 and another electronicdevice, for example, the electronic device 120 or another server, forexample, the server 160. For example, the processor 212 of theelectronic device 110 may transfer a request created based on a programcode stored in the storage device such as the memory 211, to the server150 over the network 170 under control of the communication module 213.Inversely, a control signal, an instruction, content, a file, etc.,provided under control of the processor 222 of the server 150 may bereceived at the electronic device 110 through the communication module213 of the electronic device 110 by going through the communicationmodule 223 and the network 170. For example, a control signal, aninstruction, content, a file, etc., of the server 150 received throughthe communication module 213 may be transferred to the processor 212 orthe memory 211, and content, a file, etc., may be stored in a storagemedium, for example, the permanent storage device, further includable inthe electronic device 110.

The I/O interface 214 may be a device used for interface with an I/Odevice 215. For example, an input device may include a device, such as akeyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a camera, etc., and an output devicemay include a device, such as a display, a speaker, a haptic feedbackdevice, etc. As another example, the I/O interface 214 may be a devicefor interface with an apparatus in which an input function and an outputfunction are integrated into a single function, such as a touchscreen.The I/O device 215 may be configured as a single device with theelectronic device 110. Also, the I/O interface 224 of the server 150 maybe a device for interface with an apparatus (not shown) for input oroutput that may be connected to the server 150 or included in the server150. In some example embodiments, when the processor 212 of theelectronic device 110 processes an instruction of a computer programloaded to the memory 211, content or a service screen configured basedon data provided from the server 150 or the electronic device 120 may bedisplayed on the display through the I/O interface 214.

According to other example embodiments, the electronic device 110 andthe server 150 may include a number of components greater than or lessthan a number of components shown in FIG. 2 . However, there is no needto clearly illustrate many components according to the related art. Forexample, the electronic device 110 may include at least a portion of theI/O device 215, or may further include other components, for example, atransceiver, a global positioning system (GPS) module, a camera, avariety of sensors, a database (DB), and the like. In some exampleembodiments, if the electronic device 110 is a smartphone, theelectronic device 110 may be configured to further include a variety ofcomponents, for example, an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, a cameramodule, various physical buttons, a button using a touch panel, an I/Oport, and/or a vibrator for vibration, which are generally included inthe smartphone.

According to an example embodiment, the electronic device 110 may beconfigured as a computer-implemented billing system. For example, thebilling system may be configured in a form of a program thatindependently operates or may be configured in an in-app form of aspecific application to be operable on the specific application.Depending on cases, the billing system may generate billing data throughinteraction with the server 150.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of components includable ina processor of an electronic device according to at least one exampleembodiment, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of abilling method performed by an electronic device according to at leastone example embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 3 , the processor 212 of the electronic device 110 mayinclude a video call display 310, a reaction recognizer 320, and abilling data generator 330. The components of the processor 212 may berepresentations of different functions performed by the processor 212 inresponse to a control instruction provided from a program code stored inthe electronic device 110. The processor 212 and the components of theprocessor 212 may control the electronic device 110 to performoperations S410 to S430 included in the billing method of FIG. 4 . Here,the processor 212 and the components of the processor 212 may beconfigured to execute an instruction according to a code of at least oneprogram and/or a code of an OS included in the memory 211.

The processor 212 may load, to the memory 211, a program code stored ina file of a program for the billing method. For example, in response tothe program executed on the electronic device 110, the processor 212 maycontrol the electronic device 110 to load the program code from a fileof a program to the memory 211 under control of the OS. Here, theprocessor 212 and the video call display 310, the reaction recognizer320, and the billing data generator 330 included in the processor 212may be different functional representations of the processor 212 toperform the following operations S410 to S430 by executing aninstruction of a portion corresponding to the program code to the memory211.

Referring to FIG. 4 , in operation S410, the video call display 310 maydisplay, on a video call screen, video data related to a counterpartterminal with which a video call is connected. In response to aconnection of the video call with the counterpart terminal retrieved inresponse to a request for connecting the video call, the video calldisplay 310 may display, on the video call screen, the video datarelated to the counterpart terminal with which the video call isconnected during a predetermined (or, alternatively, desired) durationof time. Here, a duration of time during which the video call isconnected may be set. For example, the video call display 310 maydisplay a message asking whether to connect the video call with thecounterpart terminal retrieved in response to the request for connectingthe video call. In response to an input of a response from a user (e.g.,a user terminal) regarding whether to connect the video call with thecounterpart terminal (interchangeably referred to as “counterpart userterminal”), the video call with the counterpart terminal may beconnected or disconnected. If the response is input to disconnect thevideo call with the counterpart terminal, another counterpart terminalmay be retrieved and a video call with the retrieved another counterpartterminal may be connected. Likewise, in response to an input of aresponse from a counterpart user, that is, a user of the counterpartterminal regarding whether to connect a video call with a terminal, thecounterpart terminal may connect or disconnect the video call with theterminal (e.g., “user terminal”). That is, in response to a response toconnect the video call from the terminal and the counterpart terminal,the video call between the terminal and the counterpart terminal may beconnected during a predetermined (or, alternatively, desired) durationof time. In some example embodiments, a video call mode may operate inresponse to a connection of the video call with the counterpart terminaland the video call display 310 may display the video date related to thecounterpart terminal on the video call screen based on the operatingvideo call mode. For example, a front camera mode for executing a frontcamera and a rear camera mode for executing a rear camera may beprovided to each of the terminal and the counterpart terminal. Inresponse to the connection of the video call, a corresponding terminalmay be switched to the video call mode and the front camera mode may beexecuted. If the counterpart user of the counterpart terminal with whichthe video call is connected is verified, the video call display 310 maycontrol a duration of time of the video call with the counterpartterminal using an item during the video call.

In operation S420, the reaction recognizer 320 may recognize reactioninformation input from the counterpart terminal based on the video datarelated to the counterpart terminal displayed on the video call screen.The reaction recognizer 320 may determine presence or absence of thereaction information of the counterpart terminal that includes at leastone of facial information of the counterpart user, voice data of thecounterpart user, and text data of the counterpart user recognized fromthe video data related to the counterpart terminal displayed on thevideo call screen. For example, the reaction recognizer 320 may performa voice recognition for the voice data of the counterpart user if afacial recognition is absent in the facial information of thecounterpart terminal during a preset (or alternatively, desired)duration of time or more, may perform a text input recognition for thetext data of the counterpart user if the voice recognition is absent inthe voice data of the counterpart terminal during a preset (oralternatively, desired) duration of time more, and may determine thatthe reaction information of the counterpart terminal is absent if thetext input recognition is absent in the text data of the counterpartuser during a preset (or alternatively, desired) duration of time ormore.

For example, if reaction information of the user of the terminaldisplayed on the video call screen is recognized and the reactioninformation of the counterpart terminal displayed on the video callscreen is not recognized, the reaction recognizer 320 may determine thatthe reaction information of the counterpart terminal is not recognized.For example, if the reaction information of the user of the terminaldisplayed on the video call screen is not recognized and the reactioninformation of the counterpart terminal displayed on the video callscreen is recognized, the reaction recognizer 320 may determine that thereaction information of the counterpart terminal is recognized.According to example embodiments, various methods may be used todetermine that the reaction information of the counterpart terminal arerecognized.

Also, if a doll or another user (e.g., a user different from thecounterpart user) is recognized as an alternative instead of a face ofthe counterpart terminal of the counterpart terminal, the reactionrecognizer 320 may determine that reaction information of thecounterpart user is not recognized. If other voice data aside from thevoice data of the counterpart user is determined to be recognized, thereaction recognizer 320 may determine that the reaction information ofthe counterpart user is not recognized. For example, facial informationof the counterpart user may be prestored and the reaction information ofthe counterpart user may be recognized through comparison between theprestored facial information and facial information input to the videocall screen. Likewise, voice information of the counterpart user may beprestored and the reaction information of the counterpart user may berecognized through comparison between the prestored voice informationand voice data input during the video call.

In operation S430, the billing data generator 330 may generate billingdata related to the recognized reaction information of the counterpartterminal based on a preset (or alternatively, desired) billing policy.If the reaction information input from the counterpart terminal isabsent or if the reaction information is recognized for a duration oftime less than a preset (or alternatively, desired) duration of time,the billing data generator 330 may suspend generation of the billingdata that is assigned based on a set billing policy. The billing datagenerator 330 may set the billing policy for assigning billing databased on the reaction information of the counterpart terminal and maycount the recognized reaction information of the counterpart terminalbased on the set billing policy. Here, the billing policy may simplyinclude a policy for determining whether the reaction information of thecounterpart terminal is recognized. Further, the billing policy mayrefer to a policy set to assign billing data by a duration of timeduring which the video call is performed if the reaction information ofthe counterpart terminal is recognized. The billing data generator 330may count a duration of time during which the reaction information ofthe counterpart terminal is recognized and may generate billing databased on the set billing policy. For example, the billing data generator330 may count a duration of time during which the video call with thecounterpart terminal is connected based on result information acquiredby performing recognition of the reaction information of the counterpartterminal, based on information about the duration of time of the videocall set to an item used during the video call, and may generate billingdata based on the counted duration of time. As another example, ifreaction information of the user of the terminal displayed on the videocall screen is recognized and the reaction information of thecounterpart terminal displayed on the video call screen is notrecognized, the billing data generator 330 may determine that thereaction information of the counterpart terminal is not recognized, andmay suspend generation of the billing data. In some example embodiments,if the reaction information of the user of the terminal displayed on thevideo call screen is not recognized and reaction information of thecounterpart terminal displayed on the video call screen is recognized,the billing data generator 330 may determine that the reactioninformation of the counterpart terminal is recognized and may generatethe billing data.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of having a video call between electronicdevices according to at least one example embodiment.

An example of having a video call between electronic devices 110 a and110 b is described. Here, description is made by setting the electronicdevices 110 a and 110 b as the first electronic device (e.g., a callingterminal) 110 a and the second electronic device (e.g., a receivingterminal) 110 b, respectively. A function of providing a video callservice may be included in each of the first electronic device 110 a andthe second electronic device 110 b, and the video call service may beused by installing a separate app on each of the first electronic device110 a and the second electronic device 110 b. Hereinafter, an example ofusing the video call service by installing the separate app isdescribed. Here, the app installed on each of the first electronicdevice 110 a and the second electronic device 110 b may provide variousservices as well as the video call service. For example, a friendshippromotion service for providing online meetings by matching a user and acounterpart user unaware of the user, and accordingly connecting a videocall between the user and the counterpart user is assumed. Thisfriendship promotion service may provide various functions, for example,a video call function, a messaging function, and/or a camera function,for connecting the user with the counterpart user through an onlinemeeting.

For example, when signing up for the friendship promotion servicethrough the respective corresponding electronic devices 110 a and 110 b,the respective users may subscribe to the friendship promotion serviceby linking user information through a selection on a separate socialnetwork service (SNS), a search service, and the like. In some exampleembodiments, each user may subscribe to the service by inputting useridentification information through a membership registration. Here,gender information stored in a separate service may interact. Also, eachuser may register gender information by selecting a gender at thefriendship promotion service. Also, each user may select conditioninformation that includes a gender, region information (global ordomestic), and things of interest of a counterpart user that acorresponding user desires to meet.

The friendship promotion service may be executed on each of the firstelectronic device 110 a and the second electronic device 110 b. Thefirst electronic device 110 a may request a video call connection. Inresponse to the request for the video call connection from the firstelectronic device 110 a, the server may retrieve a counterpart user froma user account registered to the friendship promotion service based oncondition information selected by the first electronic device 110 a. Avideo call may be connected between the first electronic device 110 aand the second electronic device 110 b corresponding to the counterpartuser retrieved by the server. The first electronic device 110 a and thesecond electronic device 110 b may perform the video call. Here, aduration of time during which the video call is connected between firstelectronic device 110 a and the second electronic device 110 b may beset. If the set duration of time elapses after the video call isconnected based on the duration of time set to the first electronicdevice 110 a and the second electronic device 110 b, a video call withanother counterpart may be connected to each of the first electronicdevice 110 a and the second electronic device 110 b.

A user of the second electronic device 110 b corresponding to thecounterpart user may be displayed on a video call screen 510 of thefirst electronic device 110 a, and the user of the first electronicdevice 110 a may be displayed on a video call screen 520 of the secondelectronic device 110 b. In this manner, the user of the firstelectronic device 110 a and the user of the second electronic device 110b may have a conversation using at least one of voice data and text datawhile viewing each other's faces. Also, the face of the user of thefirst electronic device 110 a as well as the face of the counterpartuser, that is, the user of the second electronic device 110 b may bedisplayed on the video call screen 510 of the first electronic device110 a. Also, the face of the user of the second electronic device 110 bas well as the face of the user of the first electronic device 110 a maybe displayed on the video call screen 520 of the second electronicdevice 110 b. For example, each of the video call screens 510 and 520may include an area for displaying a face of a counterpart user and anarea for displaying a face of a corresponding user. Here, the area fordisplaying the face of the counterpart user may be set as a main areaand the area for displaying the face of the corresponding user may beset as a subarea. A size of the main area may be set to be greater thana size of the subarea.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of using an item at an electronic deviceaccording to at least one example embodiment.

The user of the first electronic device 110 a may verify a counterpartuser corresponding to the second electronic device 110 b, and may desireto have a video call for a duration of time greater than or equal to aduration of time set for a video call with the second electronic device110 b. The first electronic device 110 a may control a duration of timeof the video call with the second electronic device 110 b using an item610 during the video call with the counterpart user of the secondelectronic device 110 b. For example, the first electronic device 110 amay purchase in advance the item 610 or may purchase the item 610 fromitem information displayed on the video call screen 510. The item 610for controlling a duration of time of the video call may refer to anitem capable of allowing an additional video call with the counterpartuser in addition to a duration of time set at the friendship promotionservice and during which a video call between users is performed. Here,an amount of the item 610 may vary depending on a duration of timeavailable for the video call. If the user of the first electronic device110 a uses the item 610, the counterpart user of the second electronicdevice 110 b may not suspend the video call and need to additionallyhave the video call during the duration of time of the video call set bythe item 610 of the user. That is, the video call screen 520 of thesecond electronic device 110 b may be switched to a locked state and thefirst electronic device 110 a may control the duration of time of thevideo call with the second electronic device 110 b during the durationof time set by the item 610 used at the first electronic device 110 a.

The first electronic device 110 a may perform recognition of reactioninformation of the second electronic device 110 b based on informationabout the duration of time of the video call set by the item 610 that isused during the video call. The first electronic device 110 a maydetermine whether reaction information of the second electronic device110 b is recognized based on at least one of facial information of thecounterpart user, voice data of the counterpart user, and text data ofthe counterpart user recognized from video data related to the secondelectronic device 110 b displayed on the video call screen 510. Thefirst electronic device 110 a may count a duration of time (e.g., actualtalk time) during which the video call with the second electronic device110 b is connected based on result information acquired by performingthe recognition of the reaction information of the second electronicdevice 110 b. In other words, the first electronic device 110 a maycount an actual talk time during which the video call with thecounterpart terminal is connected based on result information, which hasbeen acquired by performing a recognition of the reaction information ofthe counterpart terminal during an additional time of the video call setby using an item on the video call screen 510. For example, if the firstelectronic device 110 a uses a 5-second item during the video call withthe second electronic device 110 b, an additional video call may beperformed during 5 seconds in addition to a duration of time set for thevideo call. Here, the counterpart user of the second electronic device110 b may not suspend a video call with the user of the first electronicdevice 110 a, and thus may not respond to the video call screen 520. Inthis case, a duration of time set using a separately purchased item maybe terminated in a state in which the first electronic device 110 a doesnot use the separately purchased item sufficiently. If reactioninformation of the counterpart user of the second electronic device 110b is not recognized during a duration of time additionally set by theitem 610 (interchangeably, additional duration of time set by the item610) and used at the first electronic device 110 a, the first electronicdevice 110 a may count a duration of time during which the reactioninformation of the counterpart user of the second electronic device 110b is not recognized. The first electronic device 110 a may suspendgeneration of billing data related to the counted duration of time. Forexample, the first electronic device 110 a may return the duration oftime set by the item 610 as information about the duration of timeduring which the reaction information of the counterpart user of thesecond electronic device 110 b is not recognized, or may additionallyassign a duration of time. Thus, with respect to billing data assignedbased on a duration of time of the video call, the first electronicdevice 110 a may suspend generation of billing data related toinformation about the duration of time during which the reactioninformation of the counterpart user of the second electronic device 110b is not recognized and may reduce a fee to be charged to the firstelectronic device 110 a.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of recognizing reaction information of acounterpart terminal at an electronic device according to at least oneexample embodiment.

The user of the first electronic device 110 a and a counterpart user,that is, the user of the second electronic device 110 b may have aconversation while viewing each other's faces respectively displayed onthe video call screen 510 and the video call screen 520 during the videocall. The first electronic device 110 a may recognize reactioninformation input from the second electronic device 110 b based on videodata related to the second electronic device 110 b displayed on thevideo call screen 510. Here, the reaction information may refer toinformation for recognizing an interaction between users during thevideo call. The first electronic device 110 a may determine presence orabsence of reaction information of the counterpart terminal thatincludes at least one of facial information of the counterpart user,voice data of the counterpart user, and text data of the counterpartuser recognized from video data related to the counterpart terminaldisplayed on the video call screen 510.

Referring to (a) of FIG. 7 , the first electronic device 110 a maydetermine whether a counterpart user is present by verifying acounterpart user 710 of the second electronic device 110 b displayed onthe video call screen 510 of the first electronic device 110 a. Forexample, the first electronic device 110 a may recognize a face of thecounterpart user 710 of the second electronic device 110 b displayed onthe video call screen 510 of the first electronic device 110 a. Here,the first electronic device 110 a may determine whether reactioninformation to facial information of the counterpart user 710 of thesecond electronic device 110 b is recognized based on ratio informationof area information that includes components (e.g., eyes, nose, andlips) constituting the facial information of the counterpart user 710.For example, the first electronic device 110 a may recognize that thefacial information of the counterpart user 710 is present based on thedetermination that a ratio of area information including a componentconstituting the facial information of the counterpart user 710 occupies50% on the video call screen 510. Accordingly, the first electronicdevice 110 a may recognize that the reaction information of thecounterpart user 710 is input. In some example embodiments, the firstelectronic device 110 a may recognize that the facial information of thecounterpart user 710 is present based on the determination that at leastone component (e.g., eyes, nose, or lip) constituting the facialinformation of the counterpart user 710 is present on the video callscreen 510. The first electronic device 110 a may recognize that a videocall with the counterpart user 710 of the second electronic device 110 bis ongoing.

Referring to (b) of FIG. 7 , the first electronic device 110 a maydetermine whether reaction information of a counterpart user isrecognized by receiving voice data of the counterpart user of the secondelectronic device 110 b during a video call. For example, thecounterpart user of the second electronic device 110 b is not displayedon the video call screen 510 of the first electronic device 110 a, andonly voice data may be received. In this case, the first electronicdevice 110 a may recognize that the user of the first electronic device110 a is having a video call with the counterpart user. In some exampleembodiments, if the counterpart user of the second electronic device 110b is displayed on the video call screen 510 of the first electronicdevice 110 a and, at the same time, voice data is received while viewinga face of the counterpart user, the first electronic device 110 a mayrecognize that the user of the first electronic device 110 a is having avideo call with the counterpart user.

Referring to (c) of FIG. 7 , the first electronic device 110 a maydetermine whether reaction information of the counterpart user of thesecond electronic device 110 b is recognized by transmitting andreceiving text data to and from the counterpart user during a videocall. An available messenger service may be provided during the videocall between the first electronic device 110 a and the second electronicdevice 110 b. Also, a user interface of inputting a message may beprovided and the user of the first electronic device 110 a and thecounterpart user of the second electronic device 110 b may have aconversation by transmitting and receiving messages through the provideduser interface. The first electronic device 110 a may recognize that theuser of the first electronic device 110 a is having a video call withthe counterpart user by receiving text data input from the secondelectronic device 110 b.

Also, the first electronic device 110 a may determine whether reactioninformation of the second electronic device 110 b is present based on atleast one of facial information of the counterpart user, voiceinformation of the counterpart user, and text information of thecounterpart user. Here, order for determine whether reaction informationof the counterpart user is present may be set and reaction informationof the second electronic device 110 b may be recognized based on the setorder.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of generating billing databased on reaction information of a counterpart terminal at an electronicdevice according to at least one example embodiment.

Hereinafter, the flowchart of FIG. 8 is described by classifyingelectronic devices into a terminal and a counterpart terminal.

Referring to FIG. 8 , in operation S810, the terminal may connect avideo call with a new person, that is, the counterpart terminal. Forexample, the terminal may start a video call with a new person randomlyselected from a server. Here, a duration of time during which the videocall with the new person is connected may be set, and if the setduration of time elapses, a video call with another new person may beconnected.

In operation S820, the terminal may determine whether a face of thecounterpart user is recognized during n seconds based on video datarelated to the counterpart terminal displayed on a video call screen.Here, n denotes a natural number. If the face of the counterpart user isrecognized, the terminal may start a call with a new person after thepreset (or alternatively, desired) duration of time. Also, if the faceof the counterpart user is not recognized, the terminal may recognizevoice data of the counterpart user.

In operation S830, the terminal may determine whether voice data isrecognized during m seconds in response to the face of the counterpartuser being unrecognized from the video data related to the counterpartterminal displayed on the video call screen. Here, m denotes a naturalnumber. If the voice data of the counterpart user is not recognized, theterminal may recognize text data input from the counterpart user. If thevoice data of the counterpart user is recognized, the terminal may starta video call with a new person after the preset (or alternatively,desired) duration of time.

In operation S840, the terminal may determine whether an input of textdata is recognized during p seconds in response to the voice data of thecounterpart user being unrecognized from the video data related to thecounterpart terminal displayed on the video call screen. Here, p denotesa natural number. The terminal may display a user interface for amessage on the video call screen and may recognize the message that isinput through the provided user interface. The terminal may start avideo call with a new person after the preset (or alternatively,desired) duration of time in response to an input of the message fromthe counterpart terminal being recognized on the video call screen. Ifthe input of the message from the counterpart terminal is not recognizedon the video call screen, the terminal may determine that a reaction ofthe counterpart user is absent and may suspend generation of billingdata in operation S850. Here, the billing data may refer to an amountused in the duration of time of the video call. Through operations S810to S840, the terminal may determine that the reaction of the counterpartuser is absent, and accordingly suspend generation of the billing data.With respect to the generated or suspended billing data, an amount usedin the duration of time of the video call may be calculated by theserver based on fee information set per unit time for the duration oftime of the video call.

According to an example embodiment, order information for recognizingreaction information of the counterpart user may be set. For example,although order is set such that the terminal may recognize reactioninformation of the counterpart user in order of facial information,voice information, and text information of the counterpart user, theorder information may be modified. Additionally, a duration of time(e.g., n seconds, m seconds, and p seconds) set to recognize reactioninformation of the counterpart user may vary. For example, a duration oftime set to recognize facial information of the counterpart user may beless than or greater than a duration of time set to recognize voice dataand text data of the counterpart user.

As another example, in response to a connection of a video call betweenthe terminal and the counterpart terminal, a video call mode mayoperate. Based on the video call mode that operates in the terminal,video data related to the counterpart terminal may be displayed on thevideo call screen. If the video call mode is switched to a voice mode,the terminal may terminate the video call screen, and may suspendgeneration of billing data based on time information about a time atwhich the video call mode is switched to the voice mode. Here, the videocall mode may refer to a mode for having a call while a camera of anelectronic device operates and displays an image (e.g., a face) relatedto the counterpart terminal. In some example embodiments, in response toan operation of the video call mode, the electronic device may switch toa front camera mode for executing a front camera of the electronicdevice or a rear camera mode for executing a rear camera of theelectronic device. Also, the voice mode may refer to a mode for having ageneral call. That is, if one of the terminal and the counterpartterminal switches to the voice mode, the face of the user may not berecognized, and accordingly the terminal may determine that the videocall is terminated or suspended and may suspend generation of billingdata.

According to the example embodiments disclosed herein, generation of thebilling data related to a duration of time may be suspended or preventedif reaction information of a counterpart user of a counterpart terminalis not recognized during the duration of time, which is an additionaltime set by the user by using an item on a video call screen of a userterminal. Thus, the disclosed methods and/or systems use less computingresources and consume less power for generating the billing data.

The systems or apparatuses described above may be implemented usinghardware components, software components, and/or a combination thereof.For example, the apparatuses and the components described herein may beimplemented using one or more general-purpose or special purposecomputers, such as, for example, a processor, a controller, anarithmetic logic unit (ALU), a digital signal processor, amicrocomputer, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmablelogic unit (PLU), a microprocessor, or any other device capable ofresponding to and executing instructions in a defined manner. Theprocessing device may run an operating system (OS) and one or moresoftware applications that run on the OS. The processing device also mayaccess, store, manipulate, process, and create data in response toexecution of the software. For simplicity, the description of aprocessing device is used as singular. However, one skilled in the artwill be appreciated that a processing device may include multipleprocessing elements and/or multiple types of processing elements. Forexample, a processing device may include multiple processors or aprocessor and a controller. In addition, different processingconfigurations are possible, such as parallel processors.

The software may include a computer program, a piece of code, aninstruction, or some combination thereof, for independently orcollectively instructing or configuring the processing device to operateas desired. Software and/or data may be embodied permanently ortemporarily in any type of machine, component, physical equipment,virtual equipment, computer storage medium or device, or in a propagatedsignal wave capable of providing instructions or data to or beinginterpreted by the processing device. The software also may bedistributed over network coupled computer systems so that the softwareis stored and executed in a distributed fashion. The software and datamay be stored by one or more computer readable storage mediums.

The methods according to the above-described example embodiments may beconfigured in a form of program instructions performed through variouscomputer devices and recorded in non-transitory computer-readable media.The media may also include, alone or in combination with the programinstructions, data files, data structures, and the like. The media maycontinuously store computer-executable programs or may temporarily storethe same for execution or download. Also, the media may be various typesof recording devices or storage devices in a form in which one or aplurality of hardware components are combined. Without being limited tomedia directly connected to a computer system, the media may bedistributed over the network. Examples of the media include magneticmedia such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tapes, opticalmedia such as CD-ROM and DVDs, magneto-optical media such as flopticaldisks, and hardware devices that are specially configured to store andperform program instructions, such as read-only memory (ROM), randomaccess memory (RAM), flash memory, and the like. Examples of programinstructions include both machine code, such as produced by a compiler,and files containing higher level code that may be executed by thecomputer using an interpreter.

While this disclosure includes specific example embodiments, it will beapparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that various alterationsand modifications in form and details may be made in these exampleembodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the claimsand their equivalents. For example, suitable results may be achieved ifthe described techniques are performed in a different order, and/or ifcomponents in a described system, architecture, device, or circuit arecombined in a different manner, and/or replaced or supplemented by othercomponents or their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented billing method comprising:displaying, on a video call screen, video data related to a counterpartterminal with which a video call is connected; recognizing reactioninformation input from the counterpart terminal based on the video datarelated to the counterpart terminal displayed on the video call screen;and generating billing data related to the recognized reactioninformation of the counterpart terminal based on a billing policy,wherein the generating the billing data comprises setting the billingpolicy for assigning the billing data based on the reaction informationof the counterpart terminal, and wherein the generating the billing datafurther comprises suspending generation of the billing data that isassigned based on the billing policy, in response to absence of thereaction information input from the counterpart terminal or in responseto the reaction information being recognized for less than a duration oftime, and wherein the generating the billing data further comprises,determining that the reaction information of the counterpart terminal isnot recognized, and suspending generation of the billing data, inresponse to reaction information of a user of a terminal displayed onthe video call screen being recognized and the reaction information ofthe counterpart terminal displayed on the video call screen being notrecognized.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating the billingdata comprises counting a duration of time during which the reactioninformation of the counterpart terminal is recognized, and generating orsuspending generation of the billing data related to the countedduration of time based on the billing policy.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the recognizing comprises determining whether the reactioninformation of the counterpart terminal is recognized based on at leastone of facial information of a counterpart user, voice data of thecounterpart user, and text data of the counterpart user recognized fromthe video data related to the counterpart terminal displayed on thevideo call screen.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the recognizingcomprises performing a voice recognition for the voice data of thecounterpart user in response to a facial recognition being absent in thefacial information of the counterpart user during a first duration oftime, performing a text input recognition for the text data of thecounterpart user in response to the voice recognition being absent inthe voice data of the counterpart user during a second duration of time,and determining that the reaction information of the counterpartterminal is absent in response to the text input recognition beingabsent in the text data of the counterpart user during a third durationof time.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein the recognizing comprisesdetermining that reaction information to the facial information of thecounterpart user is recognized based on ratio information of areainformation that includes components constituting the facial informationof the counterpart user.
 6. The method of claim 3, wherein therecognizing comprises: identifying the voice data of the counterpartuser from voice data occurring during the video call; and recognizingthat reaction information to the voice data of the counterpart user isinput based on results of the identifying.
 7. The method of claim 3,wherein the recognizing comprises: displaying a user interface ofinputting a message on the video call screen; and recognizing that thetext data of the counterpart user is input based on the message inputthrough the user interface.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein thedisplaying comprises displaying, on the video call screen, the videodata related to the counterpart terminal with which the video call isconnected during a desired duration of time, in response to a connectionof the video call with the counterpart terminal being retrieved inresponse to a request for connecting the video call.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the displaying comprises controlling a duration of timeof the video call with the counterpart terminal using an item during thevideo call in response to verifying a counterpart user of thecounterpart terminal connected through the video call.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the generating comprises counting an actual talk timeduring which the video call with the counterpart terminal is connectedbased on result information, which has been acquired by performing arecognition of the reaction information of the counterpart terminalduring an additional time of the video call set by using an item on thevideo call screen.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the displayingcomprises: operating a video call mode in response to a connection ofthe video call with the counterpart terminal; and displaying the videodata related to the counterpart terminal on the video call screen basedon the video call mode.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein thegenerating comprises: terminating the video call screen in response tothe video call mode that operates in response to a connection of thevideo call with the counterpart terminal is switched to a voice mode;and suspending generation of the billing data based on time informationabout a time at which the video call mode is switched to the voice mode.13. A non-transitory computer-readable record medium storinginstructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor toperform the billing method of claim
 1. 14. A computer-implementedbilling system comprising: a memory configured to storecomputer-readable instructions; and one or more processors configured toexecute the computer-readable instructions such that the one or moreprocessors are configured to, display, on a video call screen, videodata related to a counterpart terminal with which a video call isconnected; recognize reaction information input from the counterpartterminal based on the video data related to the counterpart terminaldisplayed on the video call screen; and generate billing data related tothe recognized reaction information of the counterpart terminal based ona billing policy, wherein the one or more processors are furtherconfigured to generate the billing data by setting the billing policyfor assigning the billing data based on the reaction information of thecounterpart terminal, wherein the one or more processors are furtherconfigured to generate the billing data by suspending generation of thebilling data that is assigned based on the billing policy, in responseto absence of the reaction information input from the counterpartterminal or in response to the reaction information being recognized forless than a duration of time, and wherein the one or more processors arefurther configured to generate the billing data by determining that thereaction information of the counterpart terminal is not recognized, andsuspending generation of the billing data, in response to reactioninformation of a user of a terminal displayed on the video call screenbeing recognized and the reaction information of the counterpartterminal displayed on the video call screen being not recognized. 15.The billing system of claim 14, wherein the one or more processors arefurther configured to determine whether the reaction information of thecounterpart terminal is recognized based on at least one of facialinformation of a counterpart user, voice data of the counterpart user,and text data of the counterpart user recognized from the video datarelated to the counterpart terminal displayed on the video call screen.16. The billing system of claim 14, wherein the one or more processorsare further configured to control a duration of time of the video callwith the counterpart terminal using an item during the video call inresponse to verifying a counterpart user of the counterpart terminalconnected through the video call, and count an actual talk time duringwhich the video call with the counterpart terminal is connected based onresult information, which has been acquired by performing a recognitionof the reaction information of the counterpart terminal during anadditional time of the video call set by using the item on the videocall screen.